


La dissidence involontaire des individus

by Maki_Ayase



Series: Loona reverse!family sub-units [2]
Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: (I played like 4 times), A lot of random cameos from other idols lmao, ALSO DON'T LAUGH AT MY LEAGUE OF LEGENDS KNOWLEDGE, Angst, F/F, TW for Mental Illness, TW for suicide attempt, don't worry it's kind of funny, hyunjin and heejin are mentioned, reverse! maknae line parenting, some haseul cameos, tw for family fights, tw for language, tw for like two lines of homophobia..., wacky family relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 14:56:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20726075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maki_Ayase/pseuds/Maki_Ayase
Summary: Hyejoo and Chaewon have been in love for years, not that it was a secret. They lived peacefully and happily until Sooyoung came into their home, disturbing the set order.The story of the Park family and how they all grew up.





	La dissidence involontaire des individus

**Author's Note:**

> Second part of my reverse! family sub-units with Hyewon as the parents! Yves and Chuu are sisters and friends with the Chois. I recommend reading the first part of the series to understand the references, but don't have too to enjoy.
> 
> P.S: I never went to a video game championship, so please don't mock me.
> 
> P.P.S: READ THE TAGS

Hyejoo couldn’t wish for a perfecter day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and her little family was hanging out at the park with her best friend. The woman was currently playing with her daughter in the swings under Hyejoo’s eagle stare. After being sure Jiwoo was having fun, Hyejoo looked over at her wife laying on the ground a few meters away.

Her blond hair shone in the sun, enhancing her natural beauty. Today, she was wearing a white summer dress, a little throwback to their wedding. Hyejoo was helplessly in love with Chaewon, but it didn’t stop her from teasing her a lot. She got an idea stuck in her head when she looked over the asphalt part of the park.

  


‘’Hey Yerim! Can you keep an eye on Jiwoo? I have to do something with Chaewon!’’

‘’Yeah, sure!’’

  


Hyejoo ran to a metal fence and picked up a ball, then hurriedly ran back to her wife, who was laying in the grass reading a book.

  


‘’Hey Chae, wanna play with me?’’ She called all smiles.

  


Chaewon looked up from her book and winced. Hyejoo had a basketball in her hand.

  


‘’Well… Not really? This book is rad, it’s Tupac’s biography-‘’

‘’You already know everything about him!’’

‘’Hyejoo, he’s the master! Maybe I’ll learn a trick or two to help me kickstart my Soundcloud career!’’

‘’Play with me, pretty please?’’

  


Chaewon tried real hard to resist her wife’s pleading, but her little sad puppy face got the best of her. With a sigh, she carefully put the book aside and stood up.

  


‘’Fine! But only one game, you little shit.’’

‘’Thanks, I love you!’’

  


They walked to the court hand in hand, Hyejoo swinging them back and forth. Today was a beautiful summer day. Jiwoo still hadn’t made a scene for whatever reason, and Yerim was there. Hyejoo loved it when her friend was there. Yerim had a lot to take care of at the moment, with her two daughters and… husband, plus her tiring job, so their hangouts had become scarce.

Hyejoo felt concerned, seeing how her friend had changed so much ever since she married Hansol. She wasn’t blind, Hyejoo noticed how Yerim would put more makeup and would rub her wrist and arms a lot, wincing. Hyejoo was scared for her, and even more for Jungeun and Jinsoul.

One time, while the Chois’ were at their house, Hyejoo had slipped on water and banged her forehead on the counter, swearing loudly. Jinsoul was sitting at the isle, so she saw the whole thing happen. As Hyejoo rubbed the bump forming on her forehead, she saw the tears well up in the little girl’s eyes.

  


‘’I didn’t mean it! I didn’t do it on purpose!’’ She whispered, her hands clasped on her mouth muffling out the words.

‘’What do you mean, Jindori?’’ Hyejoo grunted, rubbing her forehead.

‘’I dropped water on the ground cuz I was getting a glass! Are you hurt, aunt Hye? If you’re angry, yell at me, not at mom! I did it!’’

  


The sheer panic in her little voice broke Hyejoo’s heart that day.

  


So seeing her best friend running around in the sun, a bright smile illuminating her features couldn’t make Hyejoo happier.

  


‘’Are you gonna shoot or not? I’m not gonna stand here all day.’’

‘’Sorry babe!’’

  


Chaewon shot her signature grin and ran at her wife, trying to whack the ball away from her hands. Hyejoo just lifted it so it was out of reach, her height giving her the advantage. Feinting to the right, Chaewon fell for it as Hyejoo pounced to the left, dribbling the ball to the opposite net. Chaewon yelped and ran at her, but her wife had already shot the ball in the air. It bounced off the hoop and Hyejoo tried to catch it, but she was pushed to the side. Chaewon grabbed the ball and ran at the other hoop, giggling.

  


‘’You need to dribble it!’’

‘’Rap Gods don’t follow the rules!’’

  


Chaewon scored, and Hyejoo let it pass.

  


‘’Yay! I win!’’ The short blonde exclaimed, jumping around and fist-pumping the air.

‘’Are you up for a rematch?’’

‘’Always!’’

  


They played like that for another hour before Chaewon had enough. Her dress wasn’t practical at all, and Hyejoo was burning in the sun thanks to her emo attire. While Chaewon dragged herself to the water fountain, Hyejoo ran under a tree, lifting her shirt up and down quickly to trigger some airflow. Maybe wearing her favourite colour wasn’t a great idea in the scorching sun. She looked over at the other tree where Yerim was lying in the shade. Hyejoo quickly ran to her and looked around for Jiwoo, that was nowhere to be seen.

  


‘’Where’s Jiwoo?’’

  


She got no answer, so Hyejoo looked down. Yerim was sound asleep, with her arms crossed under her head and Chaewon’s book covering her face. Hyejoo poked her with her foot, efficiently waking her up. The book slipped down her face, and Yerim rubbed her eyes, yawning.

  


‘’Um… what?’’

‘’Where’s my kid, Yerim?’’

‘’She was just here a second ago! She told me she was looking for flowers, she can’t be far gone.’’

  


Hyejoo grunted and looked around. Kids were running around the jungle gym and the swings while a couple were digging in the sandbox. The others were rolling around in the grass. Unfortunately, Jiwoo wasn’t one of them. Chaewon came back, casually taking her hand in hers.

  


‘’What are you looking for?’’

‘’Our goddam kid. Yerim lost her,’’ she replied, stepping out in the sun and shielding her eyes with her free hand.

‘’WHAT?’’

  


The blonde ran to Yerim and grabbed her collar, trying to look menacing. Yerim was unfortunately almost two feet taller, so the midget just confused her.

  


‘’Look, I’m also sleep deprived, we can’t all win in life!’’

‘’You lost my fucking kid!’’

‘’Chaewon, you put vodka in people’s coffee! I think you should judge your ‘mistakes’ before mine!’’

  


Hyejoo sighed loudly, and pinched the bridge of her nose. Why couldn’t today be a normal day?

  


  


Hyejoo was stirred awake by a quiet whimper by her side. Half-sleeping, she rubbed her face and rolled over to Chaewon’s side, sliding an arm around her waist. Her wife had little spams in her sleep, and her hands were curled into fists.

  


‘’I’m here, Chae. You’re not alone,’’ Hyejoo whispered into her ear, pulling her closer.

  


Chaewon’s breathing was ragged, and she kicked a bit. It wasn’t unusual. Hyejoo waited for her to wake up from her dream and answered her little ‘Hyejoo-ah?’ by a hug. Chaewon turned around and buried her face into the crook of her wife’s neck.

  


‘’Was it a nightmare?’’

‘’More like a bad memory,’’ she whispered back.

  


Hyejoo tensed her jaw, feeling the wetness of Chaewon’s tears rolling down her collarbone. If she could, Hyejoo would give anything for her love to forget all her past, and only think of the good times they had together over the years. Chaewon didn’t deserve to cry at night, drowning in the dark alone.

  


‘’You know I love you, right, Chae?’’

‘’Mmhmm.’’

‘’I’ll always be there for you. We’ll deal with every obstacle together, hand in hand.’’

‘’Thanks, Hye.’’

  


Hyejoo gave her a sweet kiss on the top of her head and pulled the blanket, so it covered her wife more than herself. She looked over at the baby monitor, and hearing silence, she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

  


  


It was on days like these that Chaewon was glad she was her own boss. No one could be on her back, no one could contest her, and she could do anything she wanted.

  


She also didn’t have to clean the dog poop that a customer didn’t pick up in the middle of her cute coffee shop. She could give that task to Minju or Wonyoung, the new hires. Anyways, she couldn’t dirty her new white shoes.

  


Chaewon was glad her shop was doing well. Seoul was a big city, with chain restaurant and stores taking over pretty much every street corner. Thankfully, people loved The Butterfly, so she wasn’t at risk of closing.

  


What was also great about being the boss was that she didn’t have to cook the pastries. Hyejoo and Yerim had made sure she didn’t, even doing it for her when her business first started. No one had died yet, so Chaewon could add that to her list of successes.

  


Another thing she could add to her list of successes was how she ended up having a second kid. Now, the day she was walking back home after almost calling the cops on the poop customer (Wonyoung stopped her), she wasn’t particularly happy. Jiwoo was at a friend’s house (surprisingly not Jungeun’s), and Hyejoo was working late, so she would have to come home to an empty house. Chaewon was a clingy person and hated being left alone. She was also madly prideful, so she didn’t say anything to her wife when she kissed her goodbye this morning.

  


So Chaewon was walking home, mumbling to herself about the loud police sirens and kicking a little pebble out of the way when someone ran into her as she turned the street corner. Chaewon almost dropped her bag, but quickly caught it before it touched the ground (the Valentino white bag wouldn’t have survived the fall). When she looked up, Chaewon saw a little girl on the ground. She didn’t look older than eight and was dressed in a stained old white t-shirt way too big for her and sneakers. Her dark hair and face were kind of dirty, and she made it worse by rubbing her cheek with her wrist.

  


‘’Are you okay? I’m so sorry!’’ Chaewon apologized, giving her hand out for the child to take.

  


Instead, she ignored her and stood up, dusting her shirt and nodding while she walked past her. The blonde stood there, dumbfounded. She quickly turned around and caught up with the kid.

  


‘’Where are you going?’’

‘’Not your business,’’ she mumbled, taking up speed.

‘’Are you looking for your parents?’’

‘’Hey, I said it wasn’t your business, lady. Take a hint!’’ The girl spat, glaring at her.

  


Chaewon grimaced. Kids these days… Or maybe she was just acting creepy. The woman stopped walking and looked at the girl go, turning the street corner. However, Chaewon had a hard time controlling her mom instinct. If Jiwoo roamed the streets late in the evening, she would never pardon herself if something terrible happened to her. She was about to just low-key follow her (she wasn’t a creep, she swore!), but the police sirens became louder and louder until the child came running back, ninja sliding into an alley and hitting the wall. Freaked out, Chaewon started running at her and dragged her up. They both ran through the alley, Chaewon guiding the way until they came to a metal fence.

  


Chaewon wasn’t a pussy. She took rock climbing as an elective in college. Without a second thought, she started climbing up, getting to the top in mere seconds. When she looked down, the girl was looking up to her, her mouth wide open.

  


‘’Well, are you coming?’’

  


The child nodded her head and climbed up, following the blonde. They jumped down on a dumpster and ran down a street, trespassing on apartment lawns and sliding on cars to get through. After 10 minutes, they stopped to look around. The sirens were gone, and they were safe. The child sat on the ground, panting and wiping sweat from her forehead.

  


‘’For a lady in a skirt, you are pretty good at parkour.’’

‘’I’m no stranger to running from the force. Gotta live up to my rap lyrics.’’

  


The girl widened her eyes, scoffing a bit.

  


‘’That’s epic. I’m Yves. What’s your name, strange lady?’’

‘’They call me Gowon in these streets, kid. And on Soundcloud, if you want to support,’’ Chaewon panted. ‘’Now, can you tell me why you’re running away from the police?’’

‘’Not before you tell me why the fuck you look like a suburban mom, Gowon.’’

‘’How old are you, five? You shouldn’t be saying stuff like that.’’

‘’Well shit. It’s a bit late for that, ain’t it?’’

  


Yves was grinning at her, and Chaewon felt a pang in her chest.

  


‘’Why are you running, Yves?’’ She asked again, a bit softer this time.

‘’I don’t need your pity. I’m doing fine alone.’’

‘’So you didn’t vandalize or steal anything. Are you running from someone, then?’’

  


The girl bit her lip and looked away.

  


‘’The Has’. I’m running away from them.’’

‘’Who are they?’’

‘’My host nightmare.’’

  


A host family kid, Chaewon thought, surprised. Maybe their meeting had more meaning than she initially thought.

  


‘’I’m not really in a position to tell you what to do, or dictate your actions,’’ the woman said, hesitating, ‘’but maybe you should go back. They did send the police after you.’’

‘’Hell no, I’m not going back! I hate them!’’ Yves exclaimed, frowning.

‘’Do they hurt you, Yves?’’

‘’They…’’

  


Chaewon felt tear well up in her eyes at the lack of answer from the little girl. She just looked to the side, like lost in her thoughts.

  


‘’Yves, you can’t run away forever,’’ the blonde carefully added on, looking up and waving air into her eyes. She couldn’t let her mascara run. ‘’If you feel like your life is in danger, you have to go to the police.’’

‘’They’ll just bring me back. They don’t want to deal with a kid like me.’’

‘’Would you rather just live in the streets, begging for food and shelter, then?’’ Chaewon added, raising the level of her voice in anger. ‘’Maybe get abducted and used? Freeze in the rain and hallucinate from dehydration? Get a drug addiction, while you’re at it! Is that what you want?’’

  


She looked into the kid’s wide brown eyes, noting the same kind of hurt they shared.

  


‘’I don’t want that,’’ Yves choked out.

‘’No one wants that, kid.’’

‘’All I want is someone to listen or just… just give me… attention, or something. The Has’ are the worst. That’s why I ran.’’

  


Chaewon knew she was a Goddess on this earth, she knew she was the shit, but at that moment, she got the confirmation she WAS the SHIT.

  


‘’What if you come with me?’’ She suggested slowly.

‘’What?’’

‘’What if I adopt you!’’

‘’I barely know you, lady. What if you’re making this shit up to abduct me?’’ Yves replied with a frown.

‘’I’ll show you some pictures, then.’’

  


Chaewon whipped out her wallet from her bag and took out some pictures of her family.

  


‘’I never had a family, so I decided to make my own. Here’s my kid, for starters.’’

  


She carefully handed the little photo to the girl, who squinted her eyes.

  


‘’She’s cute. What’s her name?’’

‘’Jiwoo. She’s five years old!’’

  


She then took out a picture of Hyejoo and her (out of the frame) holding hands, that Yerim had snapped at some point.

  


‘’Here’s my wife, Hyejoo.’’

‘’Hold up, you’re a homo?’’ Yves asked, looking at her and the picture back and forth.

‘’Yeah.’’

‘’You don’t look gay.’’

  


Chaewon had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. ‘’Have you ever seen a gay person, kid?’’

‘’No, but the church said y’all demons, and you’re not a demon!’’ Yves exclaimed, her head tilted and her face scrunched up.

‘’Fuck the church! Those people- Ah, my bad.’’

  


She wasn’t about to start her anti-religious rant now. She was trying to prove a point.

  


‘’Here’s a picture of my family all together so you know I haven’t stolen pics of a random baby and an emo chick.’’

‘’Ouch.’’

  


It was the three of them at their secret wedding they held in the back of a flower shop. She was friends with the owner, Umji, so it wasn’t hard to organize. It was her with black hair in a white dress, baby Jiwoo in her arms and held at the waist by Hyejoo in a gorgeous black dress. Azaleas were blooming around them, giving some colours to the picture. They were both smiling, and Chaewon remembered how she was feeling that day. Complete.

  


‘’So? What do you think?’

  


Yves didn’t say anything for a moment, and then scrunched her face even more.

  


‘’I gotta do a house tour first.’’

  


  


It wasn’t a tiresome day per se, but Hyejoo still felt like a piano had fallen on her at some point between 2 and 5 pm. Maybe it was the movie marathon on a Sunday night with Chaewon and Jiwoo. Perhaps it was the fucking moving crane she had to repair earlier. Anyways, Hyejoo was looking forward to dropping dead onto her bed.

  


Something that didn’t happen, of course, because Son Hyejoo’s life was a whole ass mess.

  


She came back home at 8, having previously notified Chaewon of her hold-up at work. Hyejoo had left some money on the counter for the two to order take-out, refusing to let the smaller woman cook. Of course, Hyejoo was expecting some sort of mess, but not four police cars, all lights shining, blocking her driveway.

  


‘’What the actual FUCK is this?’’ She cried out, slamming her door shut.

‘’Ma’m, this is a restricted zone-‘’

‘’I LIVE HERE!’’

  


She showed her ID to the police officer, who guided her to her front door, explaining the problem. Hyejoo tried her best to control the redness rising on her face because of shame, but also anger.

  


‘’Look, I’ll go in and try to find a solution. Just, don’t break my fucking door, alright?’’

  


The man nodded and Hyejoo knocked on the door.

  


‘’CHAEWON, GET THE FUCK HERE AND UNLOCK THE DOOR!’’

  


She waited a few seconds before hearing the sound of the lock sliding in, and her wife’s blonde head popped out of a crack between the door and the doorframe.

  


‘’I’ll let you in only if you come alone.’’

‘’I’m alone,’’ she replied, pushing past her and slamming the door close.

  


Chaewon rushed to lock it up again, and looked at Hyejoo, smiling sheepishly.

  


‘’I think I made a mistake.’’

‘’What did you even do? You know we can’t attract too much attention to ourselves.’’

‘’I know, I just… Look, Hye.’’

  


Chaewon gently held on to her hand and dragged her up the stairs, into their shared bedroom. The door was closed, but Hyejoo could still hear Jiwoo’s excited screams. She looked over at her wife, an eyebrow raised, but Chaewon just opened the door.

  


Hyejoo wasn’t expecting a nuclear bomb or stolen guns (even knowing Chaewon, that would be a lot), but she was still shocked when she saw another child playing with her daughter. The girl had to be around seven at most. She was wearing one of Hyejoo’s pyjama t-shirts, and her wet hair was brushed back.

  


The police officers did say it was a kidnapping. Maybe Hyejoo should have listened.

  


‘’Sooyoung, come here!’’

  


The little girl stopped running around and looked over. She froze up, then nodded, as if she recognized her. Hyejoo was at a loss for words.

  


‘’Sooyoung, this is Hyejoo, my wife!’’

‘’Hello.’’

‘’H-hi,’’ Hyejoo stuttered. ‘’How… are you?’’

‘’I’m good, I’m good.’’

‘’Yeah, Chae, we need to talk.’’

  


Hyejoo smiled at the little girl and turned to her wife, Sooyoung going back to Jiwoo calling her name.

  


‘’Are you serious?’’ Hyejoo whispered while running a hand through her hair.

‘’As serious as can be. You don’t understand, I have too.’’

‘’_I_ means _We_ when it concerns family decisions, Chae. It affects all of us.’’

  


Chaewon looked at the ground for a moment but looked straight (ha!) back up at Hyejoo, with fire in her eyes.

  


‘’Sooyoung needs a good family to raise her. She has a history, and if we send her back, the Ha’s are going to make it hell for her. If she ever finds another family, and at this point, it’s a 1 in 1000 chance with her record, I know it won’t be good enough, I know it. If she slips from my grip, she’ll be lost forever, Hyejoo. I know what I’m talking about.’’

  


Hyejoo sighed. Sometimes, she wished Chaewon wasn’t always right.

  


  


Hyejoo had been to court twice now. The second time with Yerim, to support her when the dumbass judge prohibited her friend to go to Hansol’s house when he had the kids, even if it was just to make the transition easier. This first time, to file an adoption request.

  


For some reason, it worked out in the end, and Sooyoung was their responsibility under the new name Park Sooyoung. Jiwoo was on cloud nine, obviously loving the idea of having a new big sister. Sooyoung was annoyed with the fact that she couldn’t just go out and roam the city during the day. After all, she had to go to school.

  


‘’Excited?’’

‘’I don’t know… Why do I need to go, again?’’

‘’School is fun! My teacher miss Lee is super nice, and Jungie and I have fun!’’ Jiwoo squealed, jumping up and down on her seat.

‘’It’s the law, sweetie. Besides, I always thought school was fun! Recess is the best part of the day, and you get to go three times!’’ Hyejoo encouraged, checking her blind spot.

  


Sooyoung grimaced at the nickname. Hyejoo turned into the school parking lot and parked her black pick-up truck a bit further away from the entrance. Chaewon had to go to work early today, so Hyejoo was the lucky mom to send her kid to school for the first time. She turned around, smiling at her daughters. Their backpacks seemed so big on their little bodies. After Sooyoung had come in, they had to shop for new clothes. Her choice of clothing was way different from Jiwoo’s, who wore little dresses and cute shirts and clean pants. Sooyoung liked shorts and graphic t-shirts. She also kept her worn-out Prada sneakers that her new moms couldn’t get rid of.

  


It was funny how much love Hyejoo didn’t know she could have for another kid.

  


The problem was that Sooyoung had never been to school. The Ha’s never cared to send her and just ignored her, which meant the kid couldn’t read and could barely write her name. She could talk alright, though. Chaewon was heartbroken.

  


‘’Let’s get out.’’

  


Hyejoo unbuckled Jiwoo’s seatbelt and her own, knowing Sooyoung could take care of that herself. The step was a bit high for a kid, so she quickly ran around to help them down. Sooyoung wasn’t a fan. Hyejoo looked up and saw Yerim at the gate, waiting patiently with Jinsoul and Jungeun. It was impossible to miss her with her bright purple hair.

  


‘’Do I have to go?’’

  


Hyejoo looked down to her side. Sooyoung was crouching down, her arms around her knees. Hyejoo was about to talk, but Jiwoo sat down in front of her big sister.

  


‘’School looks scary at first, and you only have one friend, maybe two, but then you meet people, you find out that your teacher is suuuuper nice and you do a bunch of fun activities!’

  


She put her small hand on Sooyoung’s back, petting her. Hyejoo noticed she was holding her coffee mug, so she snatched it away, remembering to lecture Yerim about giving coffee to toddlers.

  


‘’I’m not scared,’’ the older grumbled.

‘’I know you aren’t! Let’s go together, okay?’’

  


They held hands, and Hyejoo smiled at she followed them, proud of her youngest daughter. Finally noticing them, Yerim smiled and waved while Jungeun stomped her foot.

  


‘’We’re gonna be late! What were you guys doing?’’ She squeaked with her tiny voice.

‘’They have a surprised,’’ Yerim answered calmly, gesturing to her oldest daughter to come back from throwing a tennis ball on the wall.

  


Jinsoul came skipping back and abruptly stopped when she noticed Sooyoung. She smiled and waved, which Sooyoung didn’t return. Hyejoo cleared her throat.

  


‘’Hey kids!’’

‘’Hi auntie Hye!’’

‘’Hello Hyejoo!’’

‘’I want you to meet my daughter, Sooyoung!’’

  


She pushed her kid forwards, making her stumble a bit. Sooyoung looked back angrily at her, but Hyejoo ignored the stare and focused on smiling at the two little girls. Jungeun ‘wow’ed and introduced herself, while Jinsoul tried to shake Sooyoung’s hand, which she returned. Yerim also introduced herself before looking at her oldest.

  


‘’Jinsoul, would you be kind and show Sooyoung around? She’s in your grade, but she’s never been to… well… school, before.’’

‘’Yeah, of course!’’

‘’You’re gonna love it,’’ Jungeun whispered loudly, beaming. ‘’It’s my first year, and I already made friends with Yuqi, Tzuyu, Yeri, Yunho and San! I’m not counting Jiwoo, she’s always stuck with me.’’

‘’Hey! I heard that!’’

  


Sooyoung let herself smile a little, which comforted Hyejoo a bit. She felt kind of bad to force her kid, but she couldn’t take more time before going. Coming at the beginning of the second semester would be hard, but Hyejoo knew Sooyoung would be in good hands with Jinsoul.

  


‘’Let’s go! We’re gonna be late!’’ Jinsoul exclaimed, pulling Sooyoung’s hand towards the gate entrance.

  


Jiwoo started running with Jungeun, and they all laughed, pushing each other and having fun before the bell rang. Sooyoung looked back at her mom and waved, then quickly ran off, following Jungeun. Hyejoo bit her lip, moved, and waved back even if she wasn’t looking.

  


‘’Thanks again, Yerim.’’

‘’No problem. So… what gives?’’

‘’Why don’t we go to Chaewon’s coffee shop? It’s a long story.’’

  


  


‘’Hey, Hyejoo?’’

‘’Yeah?’’

‘’I love you.’’

  


Hyejoo smiled endearingly at her wife, and stepped back inside the house, kissing her sweetly.

  


‘’I love you too, silly.’’

‘’Have a good day.’’

‘’You too, don’t forget to get the girls from school.’’

‘’Don’t worry, 2kim got me covered,’’ Chaewon dismissed, waving her hand to the side.

‘’Those two alone? They’re just gonna flirt the whole time.’’

‘’Doesn’t it bring back memories, though?’’

  


Hyejoo smiled again. ‘’Yeah, it kinda does.’’

‘’Now, go to work.’’

‘’Alright, see you.’’

  


Hyejoo kissed her again and slowly waved goodbye while closing the door.

  


  


‘’Sooyoung has anger management issues. You two need to be attentive to her and help her understand certain things differently than you would with Jiwoo,’’ the doctor said while the two kids were playing with blocks in the next room. He looked down to his notes and hummed. ‘’I see school has been hard.’’

‘’Yes, she gets really frustrated, sometimes she even yells at the teacher,’’ Chaewon answered, playing with her hands.

‘’Not just at school!’’ Hyejoo added, raising her arms in the air. ‘’She takes everything personally and sees everything as a challenge. The other day, I offered to help her hang her clothes, but she told me that ‘she wasn’t a pussy and that she could do it by herself’. What kind of kid says that?’’

‘’A kid that has a hard time dealing with everyday life, exactly how you put it, miss Son.’’

  


Hyejoo stood up and walked to the window, where she looked out and stayed silent for the whole remaining time. The doctor didn’t comment.

  


‘’She was neglected as an infant and suffers the consequences now. It is quite a burden you took upon yourselves.’’

Chaewon nodded, but she looked over to the other room. “We can help her. She and I are very similar, as you should know, M. Jeong.”

“I am aware, yes.’’

“Then what do we need to do to make our parenting as effective as we can?”

“Be the caregivers she never had and be patient.”

  


Hyejoo hummed in her corner.

  


  


‘’Hyejoo, you’ll never guess!’’

‘’What did you do again, Yerim?’’

‘’No, this is good, I tell you!’’

  


Hyejoo frowned and balanced her phone on her shoulder while rolling out from under a car.

  


‘’Well, are you gonna tell me then?’’

‘’They won! They won for best choreography, Hye! They thanked me on national television!’’

‘’What?!’’

  


Hyejoo was so excited that she whammed her head on the car bumper and swore loudly while rubbing her head, but she still congratulated her best friend for her impressive stunt.

  


‘’Let’s go to the bar! We have to celebrate!’’

‘’Do you think Chaewon’ll let you after last time?’’ Yerim mocked over the line.

  


Hyejoo could hear her stupid grin, but she had to agree. They had to throw out their damn white couch after all.

  


‘’Well, maybe not. I’ll come over, then.’’

‘’That’s more reasonable. Are you sure you don’t have anything planned with the girls?”

“Nope, I’m free!”

To be honest, Hyejoo needed a break. She knew she could count on Chaewon to look after the girls.

  


  


‘’Please sit down, miss Park, miss Son.’’

  


The two looked at each other and nodded, then sat down. They were in the principal’s office since the school had called for a meeting of Park Jiwoo’s parents. Thankfully, the principal wasn’t an asshole. Instead, it was Chaewon’s friend, Hyun Seunghee.

  


‘’I have a problem to address, but first of all… Gowon, bro, it’s good to see you!’’

  


Hyejoo sighed. The two got up and did some kind of secret handshake, called each other ‘dude’, ‘bro’ and spoke teenager language until the youngest cleared her throat. Chaewon seemed to regain her senses and sat back down, straightening her long skirt, whispering a quick ‘‘Kong Won on Soundcloud’’.

  


‘’As I was saying,’’ Seunghee continued, sitting down and putting on a severe face, ‘’I have called you today because your daughter Jiwoo was involved in a bullying incident.’’

‘’What? Jiwoo would never bully anyone!’’ Hyejoo exclaimed, getting up and knocking the chair over.

  


Thankfully, the floor was covered in carpet. It still annoyed Seunghee, as she frowned and leaned back on her chair.

  


‘’She didn’t bully anyone; rather, she is the one getting bullied.’’

‘’Oh.’’

  


Hyejoo picked up her chair while the principal continued talking.

  


‘’Grade two, as small as a penguin, but she still knocked on my door and told me what happened without shedding a tear. I appreciate warriors, she sure is your kid,’’ she said, pointing to Chaewon. ‘’Did she tell you guys about it?’’

  


The two mothers stayed silent, dumbfounded. Jiwoo was always as bright as the sun, played around at home with everyone, even described her school day every day. She never mentioned being bullied. Seunghee took their silence as a no, so she nodded.

  


‘’I was expecting that. Do you know why she wouldn’t have talked about it?’’

‘’It’s my fault,’’ Hyejoo stated, looking down at her hands crossed on her lap. ‘’I’ve been focusing more on Sooyoung and helping her with her homework.’’

‘’It’s no one’s fault,’’ Chaewon countered, rubbing her shoulder. ‘’What exactly happened?’’

  


The principal took a moment before answering, examining the two women in front of her.

  


‘’I don’t want you guys to feel bad, alright? Chaewon is right, it’s not your fault. It’s the other parents’ fault for raising a kid like that.’’

‘’Just say it, Seunghee.’’

‘’It’s been going on for a while,’’ she explained, frowning. ‘’Some kids found out that her parents were both women, and the teasing started from there. Afterwards, when Sooyoung came in, having some problems with the material, it got worse. The kids won’t go to Sooyoung because she scares them, so they bully Jiwoo. She also told me that Choi Jungeun and her sister are also being teased for only having one parent taking care of them. Sticking by their sides also affects Jiwoo.’’

  


Chaewon had put a hand over her mouth during the time Seunghee was talking, and in the end, couldn’t help but start crying a bit. Hyejoo was stoic, thinking of all the little signs she could have missed. All her life, people had despised who she was, but that was Hyejoo’s life. It shouldn’t be affecting her kid, who had nothing to do with it.

  


She was expecting the kids to tease her oldest daughter, but not take it on her baby. Plus, hearing that Yerim’s kids also had it hard made her blood boil even more.

  


‘’I have called all the parents of the bullies, and they will see me one by one. I’ll explain that our school has a zero-tolerance policy and that another incident of the sort will result in being kicked out.’’

‘’Who did this to her? I’m gonna go kick their asses over to Mars, I swear to God!’’ Hyejoo said, raising her voice.

‘’Honey, I wish we could, but we can’t do that.’’

‘’And let them go like that?’’

‘’They’re going to have detention for two weeks, won’t get to go to recess for a week and will have to apologize to them,’’ Seunghee jumped in.

‘’I can’t believe she didn’t tell us,’’ Hyejoo whispered, sitting back down on her chair again.

  


They left after a few minutes, thanking the principal, and drove home in silence in Chaewon’s weird green Camry. It was a Saturday morning, and they told the girls they would be back for lunch. Hyejoo opened the door first and found Sooyoung watching cartoons.

  


‘’Hey kid, what are you watching?’’

‘’Crayon Shin-chan,’’ she answered slowly, not even taking her eyes off the screen.

‘’Where’s your sister?’’

‘’Jiwoo’s outside.’’

  


The mother squeezed her shoulder and walked to the glass sliding door. Jiwoo was sitting on the deck, colouring a drawing in the little book Chaewon got for her on her birthday. Hyejoo looked at her, taking it all in. A year had passed since Sooyoung had arrived, and Hyejoo put a lot of work into trying to discipline her and resolve her anger issues towards school. Sooyoung could get violent and unresponsive sometimes, or she would flat out run away. It happened three times. Chaewon and her were both tired, and it broke her heart to notice that Jiwoo knew.

  


She slid the glass door open and took a seat next to her kid, looking over at her drawing. It was a swan that she had coloured with a dark red crayon.

  


‘’How are you, Jiwoo?’’

  


The question seemed to surprise her, and she looked around, then at her mother.

  


‘’Me?’’

‘’Yeah, you. I said your name,’’ Hyejoo joked.

‘’Well, I’m drawing.’’

‘’Okay… but how are you feeling?’’

  


Jiwoo looked down at her drawing and smiled.

  


‘’Um… well it's kinda complicated.’’

‘’You can tell me, sweetie. I’m always here for you.’’

‘’It’s been a long time since anyone asked me that question, that’s all.’’

  


Hyejoo slapped her hands over her eyes, trying to stop the sudden tears from streaming down her face. She turned around, not wanting Jiwoo to see her like that.

  


‘’Mom? What’s wrong?’’ Jiwoo’s concerned voice rang out.

‘’Nothing, kitten, just, tell me how you’re doing.’’

‘’Are you crying?’’

  


Hyejoo shook her head, but couldn’t help a sob from escaping her lips. Jiwoo jumped into her arms and hugged her tightly, burying her face in her neck.

  


‘’What’s wrong, mom? Are you hurt somewhere?’’

‘’I’m so sorry, Jiwooming. I’m so, so sorry,’’ she sobbed.

‘’It’s okay mom. I love you.’’

‘’I love you too, sweetie. I love you so, so much, and I want you to drill that into your mind. Even if I’m tired, if your mama is tired, you can always come to us to talk about your problems.’’

  


They stayed like that for a few seconds, then Hyejoo sat her on her lap and ruffled her hair a bit. She wiped her tears and sniffed.

  


‘’I went to school today, to see your principal.’’

  


Jiwoo nodded.

  


‘’She told me you’re not having a good time right now. I’m sorry you felt you couldn’t talk to us about it.’’

‘’It’s okay, Sooyoung needs all your help. It’s hard, but I’m okay,’’ the kid said, smiling brightly.

‘’Jiwoo, it's okay not to be okay. If you ever have more problems, if Jungeun or Jinsoul or Sooyoung have problems, tell us. We’re there for you.’’

‘’I will, I promise.’’

  


They continued to hang out on the deck, Jiwoo showing off her drawing skills by showing her mom all the colouring she did, and Hyejoo ‘wow’ed at each and every one of them. Chaewon came shortly after and also apologized to her daughter, explaining that everything would be alright the next day.

  


Hyejoo looked inside and noticed Sooyoung standing behind the door, watching them. Her arms were limply resting by her side, and a mix of emotion showed on her face. She noticed Hyejoo watching and quickly turned around and walked away.

  


  


‘’Kill her! Kill her now, what are you doing?’’

‘’Shut up, I’m trying! Where is she?’’

‘’She’s at the bot, you dumbass! What are you doing at the top, anyway? You’re a fucking adc!’’

‘’Fuck off, Nagyung! Aren’t you an ap carry? You’re way closer than me!’’

‘’Hyejoo, it’s time to eat!’’

‘’In a minute, babe!’’

‘’_Babe_,’’ Nagyung mocked over the chat.

‘’Shut the fuck up! Like you don’t call Chaeyoung that!’’

  


Their team finally destroyed the other Nexus, and Hyejoo grinned, stretching her arms over her head.

  


‘’Go eat dinner, Ezreal. See you at the next event?’’ Nagyung asked.

‘’I don’t know, I have this big project coming up, and I have to prepare for Jiwoo’s first day in 7th grade.’’

‘’Aw, fuck you, man.’’

‘’Take care of your kids, asshole!’’

  


Hyejoo quit the game and closed her computer. She walked down the two little stairs to her living room and crossed over to the kitchen, where the three girls of her life were sitting, already eating. She went over to her wife and kissed her, and the two kids made gagging noises.

  


‘’Any plans for tomorrow?’’ Hyejoo asked, ruffling Jiwoo’s hair.

‘’Jungeun is coming over tonight,’’ Sooyoung replied, pointing to her sister, ‘’and I’m gonna be in my room all evening and day.’’

‘’There are days like these. Are you feeling nervous about your first day of high school?’’ Chaewon asked, rubbing her back gently.

‘’No, I just think Jungeun is annoying.’’

‘’Hey! You can’t say that!’’ Jiwoo exclaimed, frowning.

‘’I can say whatever I want, shorty.’’

‘’Girls, let’s not fight at the dinner table. You’ll ruin your mama’s fried chicken,’’ Hyejoo joked, taking a wing from the bucket.

  


It was a known fact that Chaewon cooked like shit, so Hyejoo wasn’t even trying at this point. When she couldn’t cook, they ordered delivery, that’s just how they did it.

  


‘’Whatever,’’ Sooyoung sighed, bitting in a cheese stick.

  


They chatted a bit about everything for an hour, with Sooyoung remaining mostly silent, barely reacting to anything. Chaewon looked over at her wife, trying to see if she noticed, but Hyejoo was munching away, talking to Jiwoo about how middle school was where she met Yerim and her friends.

Chaewon heard a knock at the door and excused herself. When she opened the door, Jungeun was standing on the porch, a red backpack hanging from her right shoulder. Her brown hair was tied in a ponytail and she was wearing all black. Chaewon remembered Jinsoul telling her it was an ‘emo phase’.

  


‘’Hey aunt Chaewon!’’

‘’Jungeun, hello! Come in!’’

  


The girl dropped her bag at the bottom of the staircase and walked to the kitchen. She noticed the rest of the Park family eating and stopped walking, so Chaewon bumped into her.

  


‘’Oh. Is this a bad timing?’’

‘’What are you talking about, Jungie? Come get some wings!’’ Hyejoo called, waving over.

  


Chaewon noticed the girl’s glance at her older daughter, but Jungeun still sat at the table, next to Jiwoo.

  


‘’Sorry, I came earlier than planned. Jinsoul said I could come now.’’

‘’You’re always welcomed, kid. You don’t even have to ask,’’ Chaewon reassured. ‘’You know where the hidden key is, right?’’

‘’Yeah, under the gnome version of Snoop Dog… why do you guys have that, again?’’

‘’It’s a gift mom gave her,’’ Jiwoo said, pulling a face.

‘’And I love it!’’ Chaewon sang, twirling around.

  


The three girls sighed, shaking their heads, which Chaewon thought was hilarious. They went on with their dinner, and everything was fun until Jungeun got a phone call later in the evening. She excused herself and talked for a few seconds before running back, her eyes wide and full of tears.

  


‘’Aunt Hyejoo! Hyejoo!’’

  


Hyejoo jumped up from the couch and put her hands on the girl’s shoulders, slowing her down.

  


‘’Hey, take a breath. What’s wrong?’’

‘’You have to call the police. It’s my mom.’’

  


Everything went blank for Chaewon, and her blood froze in her veins. It happened quickly. Hyejoo ran to her phone on the counter and speed dialled 911, briefly explained the situation and ran out of the house, got in her truck and drove away. Chaewon blinked a few times before she could even move another muscle. Jungeun was sitting on the floor, her head buried between her knees. Jiwoo was hugging her, and Sooyoung was on the house phone, talking to…

  


‘’Jinsoul, stay with me. Breathe, Hyejoo is coming in like, 15 seconds. Don’t look, just get outside.’’

  


Jinsoul. Slowly, Chaewon got up and helped Jungeun sit on the couch and held her tight as she cried on her shoulder. Jiwoo was also crying while rubbing her back.

  


‘’Your mom is going to be fine, I promise you,’’ the blonde said, not so sure herself if Yerim was going to make it this time.

‘’J-Jins-soul is at m-my house t-too,’’ Jungeun managed to say between sobs. ‘’She c-called me.’’

‘’She’s coming over,’’ Sooyoung declared, leaning on an armrest. She looked over to her mother and rose an eyebrow, like she was challenging her. “I told her to.’’

‘’Of course she can come! Who do you kids think I am, Mother Gothel?’’

‘’Aight, got it’’ Sooyoung replied, raising her hands in defence.

‘’Why don’t you girls make the beds for Jungeun and Jinsoul? I’ll wait for Hyejoo’s call.’’

  


Jungeun nodded, and Jiwoo took her hand, slowly dragging her upstairs. Sooyoung didn’t say anything but followed them. Chaewon stayed on the couch alone, looking outside. The night had already settled down, but the clouds were hiding the bright stars from shining up in the sky. At one point, Jinsoul got there, and Chaewon warmly welcomed her inside. The poor girl was crying, so the mother comforted her, whispering that everything would be alright, that Yerim would be fine.

  


Still, in her heart, Chaewon had no clue if she was lying to them.

  


  


‘’Hey, honey.’’ Hyejoo’s voice whispered.

‘’Hey. How are you?’’

‘’I’m… I’m fine.’’

  


Chaewon took a breath, blinking her eyes. The stove showed 23:27.

  


‘’How… is she?’’

  


Hyejoo kept silent on the other line. Chaewon understood it wasn’t just another bad cut.

  


‘’She used all her anti-depressants. The good thing is that they got her to throw them up, so she’s not gonna die. I don’t know how that stuff works, but the doctor told me she had to stay for suicide watch.’’

  


Chaewon exhaled loudly and slumped on the couch, rubbing her face with one hand.

  


‘’Thank God.’’

‘’If her name is Jinsoul. Yerim wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for her.’’

  


She stayed silent for a while, and then Chaewon heard some cursing in the background.

  


‘’It’s his fault. If it weren’t for him, Yerim would be happy. She wouldn’t be thinking of killing herself.’’

  


The blonde cringed at the thought of Hansol. She knew Hyejoo despised him, but she couldn’t let her do something she would regret.

  


‘’You should focus your energy on her instead, honey. She needs you.’’

‘’Yeah… you’re right. It’s just so… frustrating.’’

  


She let a shaky breath over the line, and Chaewon heard some shuffling and sniffling.

  


‘’So, um… How are they holding up? Jungeun and Jinsoul?’’

‘’I don’t really know… but they calmed down for now. I hate to say this, but they’re kind of used to it.’’

  


Hyejoo hummed, and they kept talking for a few minutes until Chaewon yawned. Hyejoo sighed again.

  


‘’I have to go, but take care, babe. Can you handle the four of them?’’

‘’Yeah, get some rest. I love you.’’

‘’I love you too. See you tomorrow.’’

  


  


‘’Another oil change, the white tsx over there.’’

‘’Got it.’’

  


Hyejoo rolled up her sleeves and saluted the customer, then asked them to roll on the ramps. When the car was elevated, she brought her oil collector and kneeled, ready to work.

  


‘’Hyejoo.’’

  


The woman turned around, surprised. Sooyoung was standing beside the car, her hands in her jeans pockets. Hyejoo smiled and got up, and almost hugged her, but stopped herself before putting motor oil everywhere on her daughter.

  


‘’Hey, what’s up?’’

‘’Nothing much, just hanging out.’’

  


Hyejoo hummed and nodded, getting an idea.

  


‘’I taught you how to change the oil in my car, right?’’

‘’Yeah.’’

‘’Wanna try it here?’’

  


Sooyoung widened her eyes but grinned and nodded. Hyejoo gave her the tools and gloves and watched on the side as the girl slipped under the car.

  


‘’First, you have too-‘’

‘’I know, you gotta drain it.’’

‘’Alright, just watch out for-‘’

‘’Quickly getting the plug outta there, I know, mom.’’

  


Hyejoo smiled brightly at the name. Sooyoung rarely called her that, preferring to use her name instead. The mother backed off, letting the teenager do her job. Saying she was proud would be an understatement. Making sure she was busy, Hyejoo ran at her boss and gushed to him about how good her kid was. Choi Seunghyun, or just T.O.P, actually offered to take her in for the summer if she wanted.

  


‘’You can’t be serious.’’

‘’Hell yeah. We gotta support the younger gen, Son. We’re not gonna let her do the big stuff, but working here is the best summer job she could ask for.’’

‘’She’s gonna be 15, though.’’

‘’Yeah, and? You started here at, what, 10? Your old man didn’t go easy on you. I know she can do it.’’

  


The man slapped her back and walked away, barking insults at one of the guys that dropped a two-feet long wrench on a car hood, denting it in the process. Hyejoo looked over at her daughter, who was finishing putting the oil cap back on.

  


‘’Sooyoung, what do you think about working here this summer?’’

  


Hyejoo reciprocated her kid’s wide smile.

  


‘‘You don’t understand how important this is!’’

‘‘Hyejoo, I swear to lesbian Jesus, if you take one more step in that direction-’’

‘‘But they’re all in there!’’

  


Yerim’s eye sockets hurt way too much to support another eye roll, so she just sighed and shook her head, defeated. Hyejoo didn’t loose time and dragged her youngest daughter inside the shop, where all her gamer friends were already shopping for cosplays.

Yerim came because Chaewon told her it would be fun. Of course, she loved her best friend, but her hobby was particular. When Hyejoo decided to go to the League Of Legends World Championship, this year in Incheon, Chaewon had phoned her.

‘‘Saerom, come back here! At least try it on!’’

‘’No way!’’

Yerim probably regretted her decision. The group was a mess. First off, Nagyung had come with her kid, who was running in circles trying her best to get a Fizz costume off. To her left, Hayoung was wrestling with another guy for a mouse pad while her daughter Chorong was hiding her face, clearly embarrassed. But worse, in the corner of the store was Jungkook, Hyejoo’s worst enemy. While Hyejoo was dressing up Jiwoo in a Draven costume, she looked over to see her friend standing in front of her, blocking her view.

‘‘Can we leave? Like now? Please?’’

‘‘What’s the big rush? The tournament starts in an hour!’’ Hyejoo replied, holding Jiwoo’s hand. ‘’Do you like the cosplay, Jiwooming?’’

The teen smiled, but it was more forced than anything.

‘‘Mom, I’m 15. I don’t play with costumes anymore.’’

Yerim chuckled but immediately smacked a hand on her mouth when Jiwoo shot her a look.

‘‘I’m just kind of tired,’’ Yerim insisted. ‘’Let’s eat!’’

Hyejoo sighed but gave up in the end. She gathered the whole group, and they all paid for their purchases, then left. Hyejoo turned around to get a last look, and her eyes landed on Jungkook, who was playing around with some custom keyboards.

‘‘What is that motherfucker doing here?!’’

‘’Ah, fuck me,’’ Yerim whined, already holding her friend’s coffee mug.

Hyejoo ran at him and tackled him into a card exhibit stand. Magic The Gathering rares flew everywhere while the two adults swore and punched each other, rolling on the floor and knocking plushie towers over. Supportive moms with their gamer kids and employees filmed the scene and posted it on Twitter in seconds.

‘‘Fuck off my turf you dirty Overwatch fan!’’

‘‘Still triggered that you can’t beat my high-score, twat?’’

‘’At least I’m not a mobile gamer, bitch boy! Piano tiles 2 sucks!’’

‘‘Alright, that’s enough.’’

Her friend (and basically mentor, sadly for Yerim) Hyojin got a hold of their shoulders and yanked them apart, dragging the raging mom away from him.

‘’At least Soobin can play, not like your girls!’’ Jungkook shouted, himself getting dragged away by the store employees.

‘‘Get fucked, Jeon! At least my kids don’t have a shit dad that divorced!’’

His face became all red, but he was too far away to reply. Hyejoo felt proud of herself but was quickly brought back to Earth.

‘‘What the hell was that, Son? You caused a commotion in there!’’ Hyojin lectured, waving her finger in front of her nose. “There were children in there!”

“I couldn’t let him escape like that! Remember when he called Diablo II a trash game? When he made fun of your online name?” Hyejoo pleaded, bringing her hands together.

Hyojin stopped talking for a quick second, then clenched her fist, trembling.

“LE is a fucking cool name! His sucks! Cooky! What kind of username is Cooky? A three-year-old’s!”

“Jesus,” Jiwoo whispered beside her, still in her Draven cosplay. She took a sip of her mom’s coffee mug, but Hyejoo was too busy being pitiful to notice.  


  


“Alright, we’re taking bets!” an announcer shouted from the other side of the room.

Thankfully, Hyejoo had an excellent hearing. Her friends had all wandered around inside the computer room, challenging random people to games and leaving their kids to stay to their side or roaming free.

Hyejoo was pretty sure she saw Saerom carry a bunch of little jars full of water around and selling them to older men. She had asked Jiwoo about it, but the girl didn’t know either. She had shrugged and walked away.

“Yerim, follow me! We have to go all out!” the mechanic exclaimed, pulling her friend by the wrist.

“I am not spending money on gamer Olympics! What makes you so sure of winning anyway?”

“You haven’t heard?”

Yerim rolled her eyes for the hundredth time today, but it didn’t discourage her.

“Two Korea teams have been fighting and winning for five years, so I know one of them will win this year. My gut is telling me to go with my phone company, but they aren’t competing this year.”

“I can’t believe you trust Samsung,” Yerim spat with disgust.

“Samsung Galaxy, my friend. Basically, it’s between KT Rolster and Fnatics, this year.”

“What’s with the phone companies anyway?”

“They fund them! Didn’t you at least read before coming here?”

The duo arrived at the biding booth, and Hyejoo put her money on her team. To her left, a kid tiptoe to slip two hundred dollars bills to the man. She had a snapback that kept her long black hair in place and wore a blue Day6 jacket.

“Jesus, that’s a lot of coins! Who are you choosing, kid?”

“Invictus Gaming, sir,” she whispered.

Hyejoo widened her eyes and glared at the kid. “You’re gonna lose that money, kid. They’ll never win, they never did before. The Chinese teams never won.”

“I just have a feeling,” she replied, leaving the booth with a small smile.

Hyejoo shook her head and looked back to Yerim, who just looked bored.

“That what we call the opposite of a pro gamer move.”

“That’s nice, Hye. Can we go get a smoothie or something?”

“Urgh, fine.”

  


  


Well, turns out the Chinese team won. Hyejoo’s team lost on the first round, making the woman furious for the rest of the tournament. She dragged Yerim around, looking for something, or someone, her friend wasn’t sure. She finally found out when Hyejoo stopped in front of the kid from earlier, counting the dollar bills she had in hand.

“How did you know?” Hyejoo asked, barely stopping herself from gripping her collar.

“Intuition.”

“Don’t bullshit me, kid. Your team cheated, I know it!”

“Look, I’m sorry you’re upset-” the girl tried to say, but Hyejoo wasn’t having any of it.

“You don’t understand. I just lost, like, my kid’s tuition. I need a confirmation that you cheated and that I’m not an idiot.”

The poor girl looked lost, but thankfully for her, Jiwoo arrived to save the day. Wearing a black call of duty t-shirt with shades and a ‘blaze it’ snap back, she was shaking and jumping around, letting out little screams.

“I’m sorry my mom is weird, Mina! She’s just really into this kind of thing!” she yelled, taking the other’s hands and jumping around her, giggling.

“It’s cool, I get it. See you in school, Jiwoo.”

They waved at each other while Hyejoo calmed down and finally noticed her kid’s state.

“What the fuck did you eat? Why are you shaking so much?”

“I mixed some energy drink with your coffee because it was too bitter! I’ve never felt as good in my life! I can’t even feel my heartbeat!”

  


Yerim and Hyejoo both choked on air and dragged the girl to the emergency.

  


Today was Sooyoung’s first day of senior year, but Hyejoo didn’t seem to care. Chaewon thought she would at least remember, but this morning, she left like usual, giving her a kiss and ruffling Jiwoo’s hair, barely nodding at Sooyoung. When she closed the door, the blonde looked over to her kids. Jiwoo was still slurping on her galbitang, but the other was looking down at her soup bowl, an indescribable emotion on her face.

  


‘’Last year of high school, Sooyoung! How do you feel?’’ Chaewon exclaimed, trying to get her attention.

‘’I don’t care. I’m not hungry.’’

  


She stood and walked to her room, leaving her breakfast untouched on the table. Jiwoo glanced at it, then at her mom.

  


‘’Can I take it?’’

‘’Yeah, go ahead.’’ 

  


Chaewon lowered her gaze to her hands while her youngest happily dragged the soup to her side of the table.

  


  


‘’Can you at least come back before midnight?’’ Chaewon begged, looking at the time on the clock on her nightstand.

‘’I’m not gonna die, Chaewon. I’m old enough to do what I want.’’

‘’Sooyoung, I am your mother. You better listen, or there will be consequences-‘’

‘’One, you’re not my real mom. Second, what, you’re gonna take my phone away? Ground me? I’ll just leave, then.’’

  


Chaewon frowned, hurt. Fury took over, and she tightened her grip around her cell phone, raising her voice.

  


‘’Jesus Christ! You’ll never just act nice like Jiwoo, will you?’’

‘’I’m not a bootlicker like her. I don’t care if you like her more. Fuck off my back.’’

  


The girl hung up, and Chaewon screamed in anger, throwing her cellphone across the room, directly on the wall. She heard a shattering sound, but at that moment she didn’t even care. Hyejoo did, though.

  


‘’What the fuck, dude?’’ She grumbled, barely opening her eyes.

‘’Your daughter is acting like a massive prick! I’m going to sleep, I have wok tomorrow!’’

  


She lay back down on the bed and tugged on the covers, shutting her eyes, trying her best to prevent the tears from falling. Her life was falling apart, and so was her marriage. After a few moments, she glanced to her right. Her wife was turned to the other side. She wasn’t sure if she was sleeping or just ignoring her.

Chaewon shook her head. She couldn’t recognize Hyejoo anymore. She had become distant, took longer shifts at work and barely spoke to anyone if they weren’t Jiwoo or Yerim.

  


Maybe it was too late, after all.

  


  


‘’Sooyoung is failing math, miss Son. She needs a tutor.’’

‘’Can’t the school make her study after class? It would be more productive than doing whatever she’s doing at home,’’ Hyejoo replied, looking at her nails.

  


Some needed to be trimmed, she noticed. In front of her, the teacher was frowning.

  


‘’Miss Son, I think you should talk to her about it.’’

‘’Talk? With her?’’ She scoffed, still looking at her hand. ‘’I open my mouth around her, and she starts yelling at me. Look, I’m here because her other mother can’t be here. It’s not my job to take care of school stuff.’’

  


The two women stayed silent, glaring at each other until the teacher gave up and smiled curtly. Hyejoo nodded and stood up, leaving the parent-teacher meeting.

  


  


Hyejoo heard a knock at the door, so she dropped her DSI and walked to the front, expecting Jungeun. That girl had been coming to their house a lot, but she still knocked like the polite child she was.

  


It wasn’t her, though. It was a new face Hyejoo had never seen. It was a girl around her kids’ age who had short brown hair and, surprisingly, nice clothes on. Hyejoo was used to Jinsoul and Sooyoung’s style, along with Jungeun’s fixation with wearing either black leather or everything jeans, so seeing a kid in a nice shirt and a good pair of pants was relieving.

  


‘’Hello, am I at Park Sooyoung’s house?’’

‘’Which one? The punk or the one in the soccer team?’’ Hyejoo joked.

  


The school kept messing up the two and multiple times, Hyejoo had to reply to an email assuring the school that her kid would never wear shorts too short. The girl smiled shyly and looked down.

  


‘’The punk one.’’

‘’Yeah, this is her house. Come in!’’

  


She stepped aside to let the kid in and pushed her towards the couch.

  


‘’I’m Hyejoo, Sooyoung’s mom. Are you one of her friends?’’

‘’Yes, my name is Jeon Haseul.’’

‘’Nice meeting you, Haseul. Now, can you tell me how my daughter managed to conquer her shame and finally invite one of her friends over?’’

‘’Uh… well, I…’’ the girl stuttered, gradually blushing.

  


Hyejoo snorted and slapped her own thigh, laughing at the poor kid.

  


‘’I’m kidding, don’t feel bad! You must know Sooyoung well, she isn’t the type to, you know.’’

‘’Yeah…’’

‘’So, Jeon Haseul, you’re Hyunjin’s daughter, right?’’

‘’Oh, yes. Did you meet her?’’ Haseul asked, tilting her head to the side.

  


Hyejoo thought about the bar incident, then Yerim’s weird date with a small woman named Yeojin, and sighed.

  


‘’Yeah, I’ve met her alright.’’

‘’HYEJOO, I SWEAR TO GOD, IF YOU DON’T PICK UP YOUR UNDERWEAR I’M CALLING THE POLICE- Oh!’’

  


Chaewon was standing in the staircase with a clear view of the living room, where her wife sat mortified next to a girl that looked about to burst into laughter.

  


‘’Is this Heejin’s kid? What’s up, Haseul!’’

‘’Just coming to see Sooyoung,’’ the girl politely replied.

  


The blonde stepped down the stairs and carried the conversation while Hyejoo ran upstairs to pick up after herself. She must have told Sooyoung her friend was there because the teenager came running down and quickly pulled Haseul to the door, fuming.

  


‘’It was nice seeing you, miss Park!’’

‘’Have fun, you guys! Text me if you need anything!’’

  


Sooyoung slammed the door, and Chaewon smiled. Sooyoung had a new friend, but she felt that the girl was going to be different.

  


  


‘’You good?’’

‘’Not really. Do you even care?’’

  


Hyejoo frowned, taken aback.

  


‘’Of course I care.’’

  


Chaewon didn’t answer. She got up and shook her pyjama shirt up and down like she did when things got rough in her head, and whipped the sweat off her forehead. A few years ago, Hyejoo would be right by her side, but it was 2 AM, and she had a rough day. Her muscles were sore, and she just couldn’t deal with that now. The blonde got up and walked out of the room, and Hyejoo rolled to the right and rose the covers above her head, trying to go back to her dream.

  


  


She couldn’t lie anymore. She was becoming more and more tired of always fighting with her. Both of them were. It only got worse when she got a call from an angry Yerim while she was filing some paperwork.

  


‘’Hello?’’

‘’Where are you right now?’’

‘’At work? It’s like four pm,’’ she replied, looking over at the clock on the top of the wall.

‘’Hyejoo, your daughter and my daughter are running away from your other daughter! What’s even going on? Jungeun told me that has been going on for a while!’’

‘’What?’’

  


Confusion. That was all Hyejoo felt at that moment.

  


‘’What did Sooyoung do?’’

‘’It’s for you to find out! Come back home and talk to her. I’m going to be here with Jiwoo.’’

  


Hyejoo didn’t answer, and after a few seconds, she hung up, mortified. Memories of Jiwoo in second grade came flooding back, and she ran a hand through her hair, trying to control her erratic breathing. This wasn’t even about protecting Jiwoo anymore. She just couldn’t take it.

Hyejoo wrote a note for T.O.P on a piece of paper and gathered her things before running to her truck. Her hands shaking, she started the motor and drove back home, her heart beating faster than ever.

  


She wasn’t expecting her kid to be just there in the kitchen, standing among a mess of broken glass on the ceramic floor. Worse than that, she was holding a plate with one hand and a glass in the other.

  


‘’Sooyoung, what the fuck are you doing?’’ Hyejoo exploded, dropping her bag on the ground.

  


Hey eyes full of tears, the girl glared at her, shaking her head.

  


‘’Oh, now you care? Well, fuck that shit! I’m sick of it!’’

  


She took a swing and slammed the plate down, where it shattered into tiny pieces. The sound surprised Hyejoo, who smacked a hand on her heart and stomped over to the counter.

  


‘’Hey! Stop that now!’’

‘’Or what? You’ll send me back to the Ha’s?’’

‘’Might as well! It’s not like you listen to me!’’

  


The house became silent, and Sooyoung slacked her jaw, for once having nothing to say. Hyejoo exhaled loudly and glared at her daughter, furious.

  


‘’Now, are you done breaking our shit or do I need to get you?’’

‘’Fuck you!’’ The girl yelled.

‘’Do NOT swear at me! No wonder Jiwoo and Jungeun left, were you threatening to throw fucking mugs at them?’’ Hyejoo shout back, banging her fist on the counter.

  


Sooyoung opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Instead, she shook her head as in disbelief and set down the glass, walking away from the mess in the kitchen.

  


‘’Hey, where do you think you’re going?’’ The mother called out.

‘’The furthest away from here,’’ she answered with a small voice.

‘’Not before you clean this mess!’’

  


Hyejoo reached out for her arm, but Sooyoung yanked it away from her.

  


‘’Don’t fucking touch me!’’

‘’Sooyoung, come back here now!’’

  


But she was already running to the door. Just before slamming it, she looked back, like she was waiting for something.

  


‘’You never cared, did you? I was just something your wife brought back home, a dying stupid dog you have to feed,’’ she said instead, her voice shaking from the emotion. ‘’I bet you gave me that job so I can pay for my shit when I grow up, so you don’t have to waste your gold on me, huh?’’

  


The attack took Hyejoo by surprise.

  


‘’What- Sooyoung, that’s not-‘’

‘’I don’t want a made-up excuse so you can safely tell Chaewon that you did everything you could.’’

‘’What are you talking about? Did Jiwoo-’’

‘’She has all your attention, she can take a few fights with me! She can just run to you guys and say how I’m always the bad guy, she can go to Jungeun’s house and make out with her to feel better, she can even go to the police station and get me arrested because she has the world orbiting around her! What do I have? Haseul and Jinsoul! The only people that don’t think I suck, that I’m actually worth something!’’ She screamed out.

  


She didn’t wait for an answer and slammed the door. Hyejoo blinked a few times and slowly sat down, feeling emptier than ever.

  


  


  


  


She stayed like that for a while, until her wife came home at least. As she said, she couldn’t lie anymore.

  


‘’Maybe taking her in wasn’t a good idea.’’

  


Everything felt numb. And now, her cheek too. Hyejoo looked up. Chaewon had her hand balled in a fist, and her eyes were full of tears. She was shaking, and Hyejoo cringed.

  


‘’Taking her in? You talk about her like she’s a stray! I’ve been telling you for years, but you never cared. You treated her like a stranger in her own house, Hyejoo,’’ Chaewon said, shaking her head. ‘’You know she has a hard time expressing her emotions, but you take it as an ever going war with her. I thought better of you.’’

‘’Chae…’’

‘’I thought you understood,’’ she continued. ‘’You know how it was for me. How I had to fight my way out without anyone to help.’’

  


Hyejoo nodded. Chaewon had stayed in an orphanage for most of her life, where they treated the kids like dirt. They barely fed them and took care of them, going as far as making them drop from school at 16. Welcome to the 80s care system. She had explained once that her best friend Yuta, who was stronger and braver than any of them, had passed away after an incident happened when he went to get food for them.

She was held prisoner in this hell until she was 18 and was kicked out into the world with nothing to call hers. For a few months, she lived in an abandoned train station and washed in a river and begged for money on the street. Chaewon said it was a bit blurry, but she landed a job at a small coffee shop, even if she didn’t have any experience whatsoever.

That’s where she met her.

Chaewon was so scared of talking to any of her coworkers, fearing all the friendly interjections would lead to being taken advantage of or ridiculed. Hyejoo had to slowly force her way through her walls, reassuring her all the time that she would never hurt her.

But she did.

  


‘’I’m so sorry, Chaewon. I have no excuse to how stupid I acted for all these years,’’ Hyejoo finally replied, looking away from the blonde’s piercing glare. ‘’I wanted to focus on Sooyoung at first, then on Jiwoo. I can’t seem to balance them. I was so scared Jiwoo would feel sad again that I made Sooyoung despise me. I tried, but nothing I did seemed to matter. I even ended up pushing you away. Family became… such a burden.’’

  


She stood there not talking for a few seconds, trying to organize her thoughts. Chaewon didn’t move.

  


‘’I just… don’t know what to do.’’

‘’You need to listen to her, for starters.’’

  


Chaewon knew that staying mad and ignoring Hyejoo would make the whole situation worse. Instead, she took a few steps forward and dragged the younger woman to the couch. The amount of hurt and regret she saw on Hyejoo’s face made her want to hug her, but she couldn’t just yet.

  


‘’But she doesn’t talk to me,’’ Hyejoo whined.

‘’Not verbally, but every time she glances at you, every time she talks about school, about Haseul, she’s telling you something.’’

  


Chaewon sighed, squeezing her hands.

  


‘’Did you know she’s going out with her?’’

  


Hyejoo widened her eyes and slacked her jaw, speechless.

  


‘’You know that time she came to our house? Sooyoung doesn’t bring friends home. I don’t even think she was expecting her to show up, too,’’ Chaewon continued, grinning. ‘’Haseul is a good kid. I can see what she does. She helps her a lot.’’

‘’That’s… good. I’m glad she’s nice.’’

  


Hyejoo took a pause, then chuckled nervously.

  


‘’Is our whole family gay, then?’’ She joked, looking down. They had both known about Jiwoo for years, seeing how she gushed about ‘Jungie’ all the time. Yerim’s phone call just made it funnier.

  


Chaewon smacked her arm, but she couldn’t help but smile a bit. They did end up cleaning up the mess and talking about their situation, but everything went well, and they went to sleep, but not together, not yet. Hyejoo had received a call from Hyunjin, so they knew where their daughter was.

  


Everything wasn’t great, but the two women were looking forward to tomorrow, hoping to have a family chat and make it all better.

  


  


Obliviously, that never happened.

  


Not even 24 hours after the incident, Sooyoung came home from school (or was it even? Hyejoo knew she hung out in shady places with shady people) late and slammed her backpack at the end of the staircase. Hyejoo was waiting for her, ready to apologize, but she wasn’t prepared to see her with a massive bruise on her cheek, dried blood on her chin and a bandaged fist. Her hair was everywhere, sticking out from under her cap.

  


‘’What the hell happened to you?’’

‘’Leave me alone, Hyejoo.’’

‘’Oh no, not this time! Did you get in a fight?’’ She replied, putting her hands on her shoulders, effectively pinning her on the spot.

  


The girl grunted and tried to shake her off, but Hyejoo was holding on tight.

  


‘’What did you do? Did people follow you? Did you go to that shady place in Itaewon again? I told you not!’’

‘’Hey, let me go, you maniac!’’

‘’Miss Son, it’s my fault. I’m sorry. Jinsoul didn’t-’’

  


Hyejoo looked over her kid’s shoulder and finally noticed Haseul, who was standing behind, not even inside the house yet. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her makeup had run down her cheeks. Hyejoo tried to control her anger, but this was a bit too much to handle. Where was Chaewon? She was the master at dealing with shit like that!

  


‘’I’m gonna ask one more time: What happened?’’

‘’None of your goddamned business! Haseul, come!’’

  


Haseul looked like a cornered animal. Her gaze shifted from the mother, who was glaring at her, to the daughter that had her hand extended towards her.

  


‘’I… I can’t. I have to go.’’

  


Without another word, she turned around and ran down the driveway, into the street. If Hyejoo was blown away, she just had to look to her right to see the complete shock on Sooyoung’s face. The betrayal, even. Then, the anger. She clenched her fist and ran up the stairs and slammed her door. Hyejoo didn’t miss a beat and went after her, but she didn’t barge in. She had to control herself, but she remembered what her wife said.

  


‘’Sooyoung, I just want to help. I’m sorry about yesterday… and everything before that.’’

‘’Just-‘’

  


Heavy sob.

  


‘’Leave me alone! You can’t help me, Jinsoul hates me, and Haseul left me! They all think I’m a monster!’’

‘’Soo, please let me in. I promise it’s not the end of the world.’’

  


At this point, her tone was pleading, begging to go back to simpler times.

  


‘’Please, sweetie. I swear I want to help.’’

  


After the absence of response, the woman sank her knees to the ground and slid her hand on the door like a sick, abandoned dog. Was it too late? Would her kid hate her forever? The possibilities scared her. Her family had never been worse, and she had no one to go to other than Yerim, but she was pretty sure she was dealing with Jinsoul herself if she understood correctly.

  


Silent tears were streaming down her face. That was a surprise, seeing that the last time she cried was probably in 2017 when HyunA released Lip&Hip. Truly a masterpiece of God.

  


  


  


  


When would Chaewon come home??

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading lmao follow me on twitter @loonsmemes


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